November, 2017

NY, NY - November 10, 2017- After 30 years of research and development, a soon to be published book finally appears with a revolutionary approach to put an end to addiction easily and completely -The Freedom Model for Addictions: Escape the Treatment and Recovery Trap. The Freedom Model is a unique, authoritative approach to addiction informed by the authors' decades of experiencing treatment failure first-hand and then fearlessly unraveling the maze of addiction theory and myth until finally conceiving an effective alternative, born of research and data driven.

The Freedom Model exposes the 12 Step, treatment, and recovery models myths and folklore as only researchers can - with scientific evidenced based data. Under the auspices of Baldwin Research Institute (BRI), co-authors Steve Slate and Mark Scheeren have put together a comprehensive approach to addiction that, like most inherent truths, is intriguingly elegant in its simplicity. Slate and Scheeren, however, go the extra mile and provide the research based facts to support The Freedom Model.

The Freedom Model is the result of the experiences of Slate and Scheeren, both of whom struggled with substance use issues and ended as addiction researchers. Steven Slate's own journey of heroin use and treatment failure led him to BRI. Having gone through an early version of BRI's educational program, Slate rejected the role of helpless addict and ended his addiction and treatment nightmare.

Slate is a research fellow of BRI and presenter for The Freedom Model Private Instruction online. He is a respected writer whose critical essays on the brain disease model of addiction have appeared in college texts on addiction and abnormal psychology. His addiction blog, The Clean Slate, is well known for its controversial yet well-evidenced discussions on addiction and treatment. He devotes his time to showing others how to self-initiate change for substance use habits while exposing the fallacy and dangers of addiction treatment and its "recovery society". As Slate stated in a recent TEDxTalk,

"Nobody is doomed to a lifetime of addiction, until a well-intentioned yet misguided helper convinces them that they are. A personal preference for heavy substance use can't be medically treated, but it can be changed."

Co-author Mark Scheeren was mandated to treatment and, after finishing, found he was worse off than before. He would spend the next 3 decades of his life first testing and then dismantling the 12 Step doctrines before discarding them altogether, after proving not only their highly destructive nature but also their extremely poor rate of success. The result was an evolution of addiction research enhanced by his unique strategy of studying individuals with substance use issues by living on site with his subjects for a period of twelve years. As he stated of the process:

"This was the only way to truly understand the issues concerning this population and to build solutions that actually promoted success. This effort created the knowledge base for the foundation of The Freedom Model for Addictions: free-will, autonomy, and the Positive Drive Principle."

Slate and Scheeren were joined in the development of The Freedom Model by Michelle Dunbar, Executive Director of Saint Jude Retreats, the program arm of BRI, and whose own addiction story mirrors that of Slate and Scheeren. She captures the essence of the hope found in The Freedom Model for the millions currently struggling in the treatment and recovery trap:

"Do you think it's more advantageous for people to believe they do have the power to change or they don't? In this question, we have captured the root problem with the idea of powerlessness. Whether people believe they can change or believe they can't, they are right."

To purchase The Freedom Model book or for more information on The Freedom Model approach, visit www.thefreedommodel.org.

Faith Moore is Public Relations Coordinator for BRI. For media information or to contact the authors for interviews and appearances, please contact her at media@thefreedommodel.org or call 888-973-9597.

Additional News

• BRI Releases The Freedom Model For Addictions
• Dr. Carl Hart on Addiction Treatment
• First Amendment Rights Violated by 12 Step Program Coercion
• The Tennessee Law: Children's Safety or Mothers' Punishment?
• BRI In The News: BRI featured in "Drugs and Society" textbook.
• BRI In The News: The permanent solution for addiction, an interview with Dr. Irene Conlan Interview on VoiceAmerica.com
• BRI In The News: Huffington Post interview with Executive Director Michelle Dunbar on interventions and over-medicating.
• BRI In The News: "Treatment doesn't work", a CBS interview with Executive Director Michelle Dunbar.
• BRI In The News: Monica Richardson interviews Executive Director Michelle Dunbar on the myth of the disease theory of addiction.
• BRI In The News: "Addiction is simply a series of habitual behaviors", quote by Chariman Mark Scheeren in Dr. Stanton Peele article.
• BRI In The News: Kenneth Anderson of Harm Reduction Network (HAMS) interviews Executive Director Michelle Dunbar on BRI's residential program success rates.
• BRI In The News: NY Post interview with Chairman Mark Scheeren on glamorization of addiction by the multibillion-dollar treatment industry.